Kerala High Court Stays Criminal Proceedings Against Divya Pharmacy, Baba Ramdev & Acharya Balkrishna Over Medical Ads

The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings against Divya Pharmacy, Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna in a criminal complaint filed under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 over the alleged publication of misleading medical advertisements.

Justice VG Arun passed the interim order while issuing notice on a petition filed by them to quash a criminal case pending before the Magistrate Court in Palakkad. The bench observed that the cognizance appeared for have been taken beyond the period of limitation.

"There appears to be prima facie merit in the submission of the learned Senior counsel that going by Section 3(d) read along with Section 7 of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, as well as Section 550 of the BNSS, 2023, the cognisance of the offence is taken beyond the period of limitation. Hence, there shall be an interim stay of further proceedings in ST No.1547 of 2024 on the files of the Judicial Magistrate of First Class – II, Palakkad, for three months," the Court ordered.

Divya Pharmacy is an affiliate of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, co-founded by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna.

The criminal proceedings were initiated based on a complaint filed by the Drug Inspector under Section 3, 3 (b) and 3 (d) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The complaint was with respect to an advertisement published in Mathrubhumi newspaper on September 30, 2023 for a product by the name 'Mukta Vati Vati Extra Power'. The complaint alleged that the same fell within the definition of 'prohibited advertisement' as per the provisions of the Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954. It was further alleged that the advertisement was published with an intention to induce patients to purchase the drugs, which will result in self-medication and uses of the drug without the direction of the medical practitioner, which may lead to undesirable and irreparable effect on the health of persons.

The Drug Inspector has filed two other complaints against them in the Palakkad Court and another in Kozhikode. The petition before the High Court was filed to quash one of the complaints (ST 1547/2024) pending in Palakkad.

Earlier, the Palakkad Court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants to Ramdev and Balkrishna after they refused to appear. Later, these warrants were recalled.

Last year, the Supreme Court had initiated contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ltd, Ramdev and Balkrishna for publication of misleading advertisements. The proceedings were later closed after they tendered unconditional apology to the Supreme Court.

Appearance for the petitioners : Senior Advocate Ajith Kumar (Sasthamangalam) assisted by Advs Cyriac Tom, Shiv Shankar, Ananthu Bahuleyan, Yagyawalkya Singh and Sanjay Singh.

Case Title: Divya Pharmacy and Others v The Drug Inspector and Another

Case No: Crl.MC 3242 of 2025

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